CommercialWare Advances Collaborative E-Commerce Through Fulfillment Networks.

Business/Technology Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2000

collaborate.dot.commerce Product Suite to Ensure High-Level of

Customer Satisfaction and Drive Efficiency through

the Retail Supply Chain

CommercialWare, a leading provider of commerce infrastructure solutions for multi-channel retailers, today announced collaborate.dot.commerce, a new Internet application suite for retailers to collaboratively link their own operations with those of their suppliers to dramatically improve customer satisfaction and increase efficiency throughout the order fulfillment process. With collaborate.dot.commerce, retailers leverage their supply chain partners to immediately fulfill any customer purchase, either from the retailer or directly from the partner. Breaking down the organizational and operational barriers in the supply chain also enables the retailer to significantly increase the number of items available to its customers, whether a purchase is made online, through a catalog or in a store.

CommercialWare's introduction of collaborate.dot.commerce at NRF.com marks the company's strategic expansion into the retail supply chain market and is the first product to meet the needs of retailers to build "fulfillment nets." Fulfillment nets are Internet-based networks of retailers and their manufacturing and distribution partners, which create a hybrid supply chain, to give consumers more product choices, while ensuring timely delivery. Jupiter Communications recently predicted that 30% of online retailers will follow a hybrid fulfillment strategy in the next 12 - 18 months.

"collaborate.dot.commerce carries personalized fulfillment the next step back into the supply chain, allowing retailers to set rules around the speed and timing of fulfillment of customer orders," said Janet Suleski, senior analyst with AMR Research. (Source: The AMR Research Alert on Retail Applications, September 21, 2000)

According to Jupiter Research, fulfillment is rapidly becoming a commodity service; within two years outsourcing will be the dominant approach. According to an August 2000 report, commerce ventures should build flexible, hybrid fulfillment operations by linking third parties with owned resources in a fulfillment net, allowing them to fine-tune cost and value, instead of initiating massive physical plant and staffing investments.

"In the new economy, a retailer's competitive advantage hinges upon how well it can collaborate with its supply chain partners to offer customers more choice and convenience," said Amish Mehta, President and CEO, CommercialWare, Inc. "Retailers are looking to leverage the Internet for its promise of greater economies of scale and efficiencies, and subsequent impact on revenues and profitability. collaborate.dot.commerce gives retailers the ability to collaborate with trading partners in real-time and provide levels of customer service that consumers expect."

collaborate.dot.commerce solves the biggest problem retailers have faced - balancing cost and customer value, while providing high levels of customer service by enabling retailers to leverage the Internet to collaborate seamlessly with their supply chain partners. With collaborate.dot.commerce, retailers can build a hybrid supply chain - a community comprising retailers and their suppliers connected on the Internet to take orders from consumers and ship these orders either from the retailer's own warehouses or those of their suppliers.

In addition, collaborate.dot.commerce enables both the retailers and their suppliers to increase efficiencies by reducing errors caused by traditional means of communication such as phone calls and fax. The product enables both retailers and their suppliers to simultaneously view, in real-time, critical business information such as order information, customer information, demand forecasts, customer service information, and inventory details. collaborate.dot.commerce also automates "carrier compliance" shipment processing services, which along with costs associated with virtual fulfillment, can dramatically reduce costs associated with third-party shipments from an average of $12 to $1 per order.

"collaborate.dot.commerce is a creative solution to a retailer's supply chain challenges," said Bob O'Hern, Vice President of Information Systems, Ritz Camera. "CommercialWare has a forward thinking approach to meeting the needs of retailers in the ever changing economy. We have a strong partner in CommercialWare - they are constantly working with their customers, recognizing our challenges and delivering technology solutions that work."

With collaborate.dot.commerce, CommercialWare has further extended its industry-leading solutions for multi-channel commerce. Its core solutions suite, retail.dot.commerce, powers multi-channel commerce for companies like Saks Fifth Avenue, Target, Starbucks, Brooks Brothers, Ritz Camera, Patagonia, Cornerstone Brands, J. Jill, Chico's, and many others.

CommercialWare is demonstrating the power of collaborate.dot.commerce at the upcoming NRF.com Conference and Exposition, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA, September 24-27, 2000. CommercialWare collaborate.dot.commerce will be generally available in the fourth quarter of 2000.

About CommercialWare

CommercialWare is the world's leading provider of commerce infrastructure solutions for multi-channel retailers. CommercialWare solutions enable retailers to build a "customer centric" commerce infrastructure, providing a unified view of the customer throughout the entire transaction lifecycle, and enabling retailers to interact and transact with customers across multiple channels, while collaborating with suppliers and distributors in real-time. Multi-channel retailers gain competitive advantage through CommercialWare solutions and achieve high levels of customer loyalty, while driving sales growth and operational efficiency.

CommercialWare powers retail commerce for more than 80 leading companies, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Staples, Target, Disney, Casual Corner, Brooks Brothers, Starbucks, EBWorld.com, J. Jill, Ritz Camera and Patagonia.

CommercialWare's retail.dot.commerce suite is a comprehensive solution for multi-channel retail commerce, including Web storefronts, order management, e-fulfillment, and customer service. CommercialWare's collaborate.dot.commerce suite provides a robust solution for hybrid supply chain fulfillment nets, connecting the retail enterprise to its extended supply chain and fulfillment partners.

For more information, visit CommercialWare at http://www.commercialware.com/